Your best Texas winery experience will win wine

Texas wine trails and wineries are getting visited frequently. If you love Texas wines and have had an enjoyable Texas winery experience, please let me know by emailing me at (rsaikowski@comcast.net) your best Texas winery experience.

Winners will get a bottle of my recently bottled Quest Wine (autographed, of course). Obviously, you must be at least 21 years old. I will select what I think are the 12 best (happens to be a case) with each of the dozen of my bottles bestowed upon the best for describing your Texas wine experience. On April 1, I will announce the people who I will share some of my wines. Those bottles will be available for pickup during the April 9 Art Event (Chalk Up Conroe) in the Pocket Park in downtown Conroe.

USA Leads World in Wine Consumption

The United States has broken the “wine barrier” and is now the leading consumer of wines in the world based on statistics for the calendar year 2010, according to Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates, a wine industry consulting firm in Woodside, Calif.

We consumed 3.96 billion bottles of wine, just barely eking out the French consumption of 3.85 billion bottles of vino. Although each “Frenchie” consumed 61 bottles of wine in 2010, and we enjoyed on the average only 13 bottles per person; the United States has a much larger population and hence has earned the title by volume of people. I believe Equatorial Guinea consumes more wine on a per capita basis than we do. However, our masses of people have earned us the title. We still have a long way to go to even equaling the French in their per capita consumption.

Go Texan Twitter Day

The next GO TEXAN Texas Twitter Tuesday is April 5 at 7 p.m. Make plans to chat with Jim Johnson of Alamosa Wine Cellars (www.alamosawinecellars.com), who has been growing grapes and making wine in Texas since 1996 and was the first to produce a Tempranillo in Texas. He has also pioneered other Mediterranean grape varieties such as Viognier, Sangiovese and Syrah. He’ll be talking about plans to establish a Texas chapter of TAPAS - the Tempranillo Advocates, Producers and Amigos Society. He’ll also share what he thinks are good varietals to grow in his part of the Texas Hill Country. To chat with Jim, follow him on Twitter @alamosawineguy and/or Alamosa Winery at @alamosawine and use the hashtag #GOTEXAN.

Spring Bluebonnet Wine and Cheese Trail

The Spring Bluebonnet Wine and Cheese Trail is blossoming forth the first three weekends in April. It is a wonderful way to enjoy the beauty of native Texas wildflowers and the blooming viticulture at 10 of Texas’ best wineries. This event is the namesake event for the Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail.

For the first three weekends in April, the wineries along the trail will offer a select pairing of two wines and two specially-crafted cheese dishes prepared with cheeses from local artisans. As an added bonus, wine trail ticket holders will receive a packet of Texas Wildflower seeds at each winery you visit while supplies last. Tickets are available online at $25 for one adult patron or $45 for two adult patrons via www.localwineevents.com.

The official hours for this event are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. each Sunday for each trail weekend. All wineries will be open during the official trail hours. This is the perfect opportunity to enjoy beautiful Texas wildflowers and fine Texas wines married with fantastic cheese pairings.

Bernhardt Winery Concert Series

A 33-week run of winery concerts begins on April 10 with THUNDER, a Chicago-style, 11-piece big band sound on the newly landscaped winery grounds of Bernhardt Winery near Plantersville. Check out the upcoming concerts at the end of this article. The Bernhardts have carved out a special niche in the Texas wine scene with their weekly wine concerts. Some have compared Jerry and Jerri Bernhardt to the Mondavi’s of California with their impact of paring concerts and great concerts. Every Sunday evening beginning an hour before sunset, patrons are invited to enjoy a lawn concert with great music and relax with your family and friends. At sunset, the Bernhardts stop the music and raise a toast to life, family, and love! The winery is open for tasting and purchasing wine by the glass or bottle. Bring your lawn chairs and come relax.

There is a cover charge for adults 18 and over for these events. The Bernhardt Winery has fine cheeses, deli crackers and sausages, along with jams and sauces for snacks to pair with their wines. Please bring your own picnic baskets or purchase catered foods available in limited quantities on the winery grounds. Please note that per Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, it is illegal for you to bring alcohol onto any winery property. Upcoming Bernhardt Winery Concerts include: